Utah -- Land of Miracles!

My opinion of Utah was transformed today. In no small part this was due to the most exciting thing that happened. In the interlude between dropping Debra off and picking Bonnie up, I happened upon a charity fundraiser car wash. I turned over the dust laden, still bug-spattered Lexus and betook myself to McDonald's for some delicious wifi and a chance to do some work (yes, I do check email and actually work on occasion). Half an hour later a shy young man asked if I was the one with the Maryland plates and informed me my car was finished.

No more bugs. No more dust. A spotless windshield (which I assure you did not last for long). I, like the Mormons before me, was sure I'd found the promised land.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This morning we had an easy 45 minute drive from Park City to the airport, where Debra hopped her plane back to heat, humidity, traffic, and a compensatory crabcake dinner. I'm sure Tom was glad to see her!

With a four-hour window to fill, I got my nails done (here's how cool the electronic-enabled life is: you pull up Google maps in Wyoming and ask it to find manicure spots near Salt Lake City airport and several pop up so you can make an appointment and have that ready when you arrive in town -- amazing!), stumbled upon the aforementioned car washing, and then settled down at the airport and finished working. Bonnie arrived just as I was uploading a file through the perilous airport wifi connection so I sent her off to fetch her bag, finished up, and shut down the computer (whew! file went through).

We headed out of Salt Lake, finally reaching open road about 45 minutes out of town. There was quite a lot of traffic, something I haven't missed at all.

It was a gorgeous afternoon, so once we got off the interstate (posted speed limit 80 mph -- I'm really starting to like Utah!) we put down the top, to the amazement of the children standing around the farm store where we had loaded up on juicy fresh peaches, wild blueberries, and Utah cherries (who knew!). Green mountains slowly gave way to hills spotted with sagebrush. Red undertones became more pronounced. And miles and miles and miles and miles of no sign of life were occasionally interrupted by a tiny town (also know as a crossroads).

Finally we made it to red rock country. After driving through miles and miles of sagebrush, I was starting to feel like a cowboy.

We arrived at our lodgings for the night and after a quick celebratory toast (the leftover box shiraz, thank you Debra) headed over to Cafe Diablo on brother Daniel's recommendation.

Buy your plane ticket right away. This is the most exceptional food I've had all trip and for poor Bonnie it's just going to be downhill from here. Remember the meatloaf from the other day's posting? Well compare that to the ribs we shared at dinner (shown below) after empanadas with a black bean sauce and a duck salad that transcends description.

Now we're so full and about to tuck in for the evening. Debra and I managed to see two shooting stars last night but tonight I think I'm just going to crawl into bed.